MURMANSK, Mar 11 Norway joined other European countries in supporting the ban on the participation of professional athletes from Russia and Belarus in international competitions, however, it should not extend to children's and youth sports, the Kingdom's Ministry of Culture and Equality says in a statement. «Norway joins the international position, which is to remove Russian and Belarusian athletes from high-level competitions,” the ministry said and clarified that these measures, under which Norway has signed along with 37 other countries, apply to professional athletes. “Among other things, we urge that neither Russia nor Belarus have the opportunity to apply for, participate in or host international sporting events,» minister Anette Trettebergstu was quoted as saying. en. The declaration states that the best athletes, leaders or teams representing Russia or Belarus should not be able to compete in other countries. If possible, measures should also be taken against investments in sports associated with the Russian authorities. «I want to emphasize that we want to exclude athletes and teams of the highest sports level from foreign competitions, and not children's, youth and grassroots sports. We want channels for cooperation remained open between people as long as possible,» the minister stressed.
